PPH Foundation's leader resigns unexpectedly

ESCONDIDO —— Palomar Pomerado Health Foundation is seeking a new
leader following the unexpected resignation of the woman who served
as the organization's executive director for the past five
years.

Anamaria Repetti and foundation board chairman Douglas Moir
confirmed Friday that she left her $142,000-a-year job with the
foundation abruptly last week. Both cited conflicts between Repetti
and the foundation's 24-member board of directors.

"The simplest answer is, really, there were fundamental and
irreconcilable differences involving all aspects of management's
short- and long-term plans," Moir said. "That's about all I can
say."

Neither Moir or Repetti would elaborate on what the
disagreements were about, or explain why Repetti tendered her
resignation now.

Repetti's departure comes just as the foundation is undertaking
a major review of its setup and operations and planning a capital
campaign designed to raise up to $50 million for Palomar Pomerado
Health. The foundation is the philanthropic arm for the public
hospital district, which operates Palomar Medical Center in
Escondido and Pomerado Hospital in Poway.

Reached by phone at her family's Valley Center farm, Repetti
said her disagreements with the board centered around the
foundation's governance and structure.

"It was a joint decision for me to resign," Repetti said. "There
was not a blow-up of any kind. It's a difference of opinion and an
agreement to disagree …. There were differences of opinion, and the
board and its leadership, I'm sure, will resolve those going
forward."

Now considering her next move, Repetti said she hopes to find
another job in this area. The foundation's board, meanwhile, plans
to look for a new director, Moir said.

"It will probably be a national search," he said. "My
understanding is that (with) a position of this importance and the
fact that, nationally, there's not a giant pool of real high-level
candidates, it may take three to six months."

Money raised during the capital campaign, whose start date has
not been determined, will help pay for a $753 million construction
project that will add new medical facilities to the health district
and renovate or expand some of its existing ones. The project
includes a new hospital to be built in Escondido.

Voters signaled their support for the construction project when
they approved Proposition BB in November. The measure will raise
$496 million for the construction work.

The hospital district also plans to sell $210 million worth of
revenue bonds and use $22 million to $37 million of its own cash,
as part of the financing plan for the project.

Formed more than 25 years ago, the foundation is a charitable
organization that offers individuals, corporations and other
entities a tax-deductible way to donate money to the hospital
district. Repetti headed up the foundation for about a year in the
mid-1990s before leaving for another job.

She returned to pick up the reins of the foundation again in May
2000 and helped the organization raise more than $17 million in the
years since.

Moir described Repetti as "a very lovely, very warm person with
tremendous personal charm who developed and nurtured a lot of very
close personal relationships and a lot of goodwill for the
foundation and health care system."

"Those qualities will be missed," he added.

Repetti's disagreements with the board apparently developed as
the foundation started its own review. Moir said the organization's
board wants to see the foundation become more independent and
financially self-sufficient.

As it stands now, the district pays the salaries of and provides
benefit packages to the foundation's four staff members, including
the executive director. The organization also leases office space
in Palomar Pomerado Health's Carmel Mountain Ranch
headquarters.

"We're really in the midst of kind of a comprehensive overview
of the foundation both organizationally and structurally," Moir
said. "In that sense, if (Repetti's resignation) was going to
happen, this is a prime time for that to happen. It enables us to
move forward with a clean slate and no preconceived notions."

Noting that the foundation has benefited from the largess of
"some incredibly generous" donors, Repetti said she wishes the
board's members nothing but success.

"I think they're poised for some tremendous success in the
future regardless of how they decide to go forward," she said. "And
my hope is that they continue the upward trajectory that we started
in 2000."

Palomar Pomerado Health board member Nancy Scofield, who serves
on the foundation's board as well, expressed sadness over the
executive director's departure.

"We've appreciated very, very much her services for over five
years, and she's been a wonderful person doing a lot of wonderful
things," Scofield said. "I'll miss her, definitely, and I wish her
the best wherever she goes."